Whisked Away
by Icee The Hedgehog
Summary: When the teleporters go baserk after Sonic's attempt to have a celebration Brawl, Sonic and his new friend Mega Man end up trapped in the middle of time and space, unable to escape. Who or what is truly behind this unexpected happening and will the Smashers at home be able to get them back before it's too late?
1. Prolouge

_**Hello everyone, and welcome to a new story by yours truly, Icee The Hedgehog! Now that Sonic was confirmed for Smash Bros 4, I immediately got to work on this fic. This is the sequel to The Worries of A New Brawl Tourney, so if you have not read that one, I reccomend you do so so that you understand Sonic and Mega Man's stories. I also suggest that you look at My Smash Story as well, since that is basically Mega Man's getting into Smash Bros story.  
**_

_**Anyway, enough babbling from me. Let's get on with the story.**_

_**DISCLAIMER: I don't own the characters. They belong to their respective companies.**_

* * *

**Prologue  
**

_**T**__**ick...Tick...Tick...**_

The grandfather clock in the lobby of the Smash Mansion ticks on as I sit on the sofa, in !my own thoughts yet again. I find myself doing that a lot nowadays. Especially now that I heard the official word from Master Hand that Dr. Light and Roll's bodies were found yesterday. I am devastated that it's actually true - they're dead and not coming back, ever. I keep trying to reassure myself that they are happy and in a better place, out of harms way, but I still feel that it wasn't supposed to end like this. I was supposed to die before them, wasn't I? But yet, I'm still here. I made it but they didn't. Ugh...I just don't know anymore and thinking about it just makes my head hurt. Nothing makes sense to me. Why bother trying to make sense of it?

"Rock?"

...

"Rock, hello?"

...

"_SERIOUSLY, ROCK!_"

"Huh?"

I turn around to see my friend and rival, Sonic standing above me. One hand is on his hip as if he was annoyed. Sonic and I once hated each other's guts, but now that we've resolved most of our issues, I've started to warm up to him. I'm not as hostile around him, nor am I as afraid of him. We've even began to talk about our worlds together and I find myself surprised at all of the similarities between his world and my world. I've even sometimes let up my gaurd and taken my armor off around Sonic and I now let him call me Rock if he wants to. Despite being close friends, we're still equally as much rivals.

"Well, now that I have your attention, I wanted to tell you.._.I JUST GOT CONFIRMED FOR THE NEW SMASH BROS FOUR!_" Sonic shouts, doing a "victory dance" as he shows me his laptop, which has the Smash Bros 4 site up. Sure enough, Sonic's picture is on the list of confirmed Smashers. "And I got a new pose too!"

"That's awesome." I say with a smile, happy that he finally got in after all of the uproaring of the summer. "So that stuff that your stirred with me back in July was over nothing."

"...Yeah...it was..." Sonic says, looking down as he scratches the back of his head. He pauses for a bit. "But that's behind me now. So anyway, what are you gonna do now that I'm officially a Smasher for this new tourney?"

"Have an official Brawl with you and kick your butt." I say with a cheesy grin.

"Would you really?" Sonic whines, stamping his foot. "I thought you were a pacifist!"

"And this is Smash Bros." I state back.

"Aw, come on..." Sonic continues to whine. He then perks up, getting an idea. "Well, if you want to have that Brawl now, we can. We just have to turn the Smash Ball off since your sorry butt doesn't have a Final Smash yet."

"My sorry butt?" It was now my turn to shout and stand up, hand on my hip. "How long did it take you to find your Final Smash?"

"I use a Smash Ball like the Chaos Emeralds, so my Final Smash was pretty obvious." Sonic says, seeming not phased by me yelling.

"Well, mine isn't that easy to find!" I argue. "I want to make sure it's good, and not a clone of anybody else's! I'm sure I'll get it soon."

"Aw, come on, why can't you find it now?" Sonic asked. "It's not that hard."

"Is too!" I argue.

"Is not!" Sonic gets in my face.

"Is too!" I get in his face,

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"Is not!"

"Um...am I...interrupting something?" a new voice asks.

I look up to see Toon Link standing there. Sonic and I are still in each other's faces. We quickly separate.

"Um...I was just asking if you wanted to Brawl." Toon Link says, still feeling like he interrupted something.

"Okay!" I say cheerfully. "Let's "Rock" and "Roll" then."

"Worst pun in the history of ever." Sonic says, rolling his eyes at me.

"And yours are any better?" I ask him. "All jokes aside, let's Brawl."

"I'm not sure if I want to Brawl now that I've heard that horrible -"

"Sonic, get off my case!" I interrupt, getting annoyed.

"No!"

"Guys, are we Brawling or not?!" Toon Link asks after a few minutes. "Because all I'm hearing is arguing and not Brawling."

"I'm gonna Brawl as soon as Sonic gets off my case!" I shout.

"Whatever." Sonic says, leading the way to the teleporters. Toon Link and I follow him, me still very annoyed with him. However, this is a typical day in the lives of Sonic and Mega Man, so I'm pretty used to it.

"By the way, we're Brawling in Windy Hill from Sonic Lost World so I hope that's okay with you." Sonic calls after us when we are halfway down the hallway leading to the Brawl Teleporters.

"But Master Hand hasn't even opened that stage yet!" I object.

"So? It's not stopping me from using it." Sonic says, shooing my objection away as if it were nothing. "He's already got it programmed into the new teleporters, so it's no big deal."

"But still, Sonic Lost World doesn't come out until mid-late October." I point out. "It's only October first! The stage might not be done yet!"

"It's done...I went out on the thing during the trailers." Sonic says in an annoyed tone. "If your concern is about the Deadly Six showing up, I doubt they will. Maybe Zazz might show up and if he does I can just kick his butt early. You're making this more of a deal than what it is."

"I'm not so sure either." Toon Link speaks up. "It's not open yet and only recently was announced. It probably is not done yet."

"It's not going to hurt to take a chance." Sonic says as he speeds towards the teleporters. I shake my head. Sonic's determined to do this, and when he gets determined, there's no stopping him, even if his idea is silly.I just hope that we don't get into much trouble, or Master Hand will likely give me my first Brawl Suspension.

When we arrive in the teleporter room, Sonic immediately gets to typing the codes for the new teleporters. The codes for each stage were sitting right on the teleporter, so it didn't take him long to figure it out. The teleporters begin to glow, and each of us steps into one. The capsules then encase us. I take a deep breath, hoping we don't get caught doing this.

Suddenly, the alarms start to buzz, and red lights flash on each of the teleporters

Things take a turn for the worse as more things start happening with the teleporters.

**ERROR! ERROR! INVALID CODE - INITIALIZING ALTERNATE DESTINATION! ** flashes in red letters above the main teleporter, which Sonic is currently in.

This thing is malfunctioning! We have to get out of the machines! I charge up my Mega Buster and attempt to break the capsule, but the material is much too strong. Of course. It has to hold up to power types like Bowser who would break the thing by accident in one hit if it wasn't made out of a thick material. Which means we're stuck! I scream, becoming scared of what the teleporters might do to us.

I look over at Sonic and Toon Link, whose teleporters are across from me. Toon Link looks like he's about to wet his pants and Sonic has his jaw wide opened in shock at what happened. Through my fear, I glare at Sonic as if to say "See, this is where your hair-brain idea got us". He glares back.

Before long, the machine starts to smoke. Smoke fills the entire room, especially in the capsules we're in. I start to cough as the teleporter starts to glow brightly.

All went white...


	2. Unexpected Company

**Chapter One: Unexpected Company  
**

"Wake up."

So cold...so very very cold...

"I said, wake up."

But I don't want to, I'm too cold...

My blurry vision slowly comes into focus as I feel a burst of heat. Something soft is around me - probably a blanket. I've never been this cold in my entire life, not even when Roll accidentally pushed me into the ocean when Dr. Light, Roll and I went on a trip. When my vision finally clears, I want to jump at what I see. However, I'm too weak to. That still doesn't stop me from widening my eyes. What is this? An older version of me? I try to get up but am pushed down again.

"Don't push yourself." the older robot says.

"Who...Who are you?" I mumble. Why do I like this guy is familiar? Where did I see him before? I close my eyes in an attempt to remember.

****FLASHBACK****

Roll and I were making a house of cards. I'd still been recovering from recent injuries caused by Dr. Wily. Here lately, it'd taken me a lot more time than usual to recover from things. When I asked Dr. Light about it, he would never say anything to me. I had a feeling he knew why, and he probably thought that if he told me why, I would be scared. I simply let it go...I sort of already had a clue as to why, and I didn't - and still don't - want to talk about it.

Since Dr. Light had told me that I should take it easy for awhile, Roll thought that a nice way to spend the day would be to make a house of cards that reached the ceiling and then knock them all down. After all, knocking down things was always fun for both of us (not fun for Dr. Light, however, especially when we accidentally broke something valuable). It was a great idea - well, until we ran out of cards.

I'd told Roll that I was tired of being in bed all day and that I'd like to go and ask Dr. Light where his extra decks of cards were. She said that was fine and I was on my way.

As usual, Dr. Light was working on something. He's always working on something or another. Sometimes, he'll share with me what he's working on, but over the past couple days, he hadn't been. It all only made me even more curious. I wonder what his new project is about? Am I going to get a new sibling? I hope so. It's not that I don't like Roll and all, it's just that I would like to have a brother - and not one that has a programming error like Proto Man. The only way to fix him would be to entirely reprogram him, which is a lot of work. Even more, he's always not around, so nobody can ever find him to fix him.

As I peeked in the room, I noticed some general outlines on the computer, resembling the outlines of the robot person I am seeing right now. Dr. Light was thinking of what to name the new file. Curiosity got the best of me, and I went all the way in the room, the door slamming closed behind me. Immediately, Dr. Light hit the letter X on the file and hit SAVE. The file closed out, revealing the desktop.

Although I still wondered what all of this was about, I dismissed it from my thoughts, grabbed the box of cards from the desk, and left.

_**. . . . . **_

"So...you were that project that Dr. Light hid from me." I say softly.

The robot just looks at me as if I was crazy. "I don't know what you're talking about. Anyway, I hope you're okay. You and your friend were out for two days!"

I want to say more about what I saw, but I decided not to. The robot would just think that I'm crazy anyway. Instead, I look to Sonic, who is still out, face badly frostbitten. I look around. We're in an empty field of tall grass. However, everything looks hazy, almost as if it doesn't exist. My eyes then go wide - Toon Link is gone! God, I hope he's alright. More importantly, I hope Sonic wakes up soon.

I throw the blanket that was around me towards Sonic. He needs it more than I do. I'm conscious - Sonic isn't.

"So..." the other robot says after a few minutes, trying to strike up conversation. "What's your name? My name's X, by the way."

_So Dr. Light did name him X... _I think to myself.

I shake my head, trying to get my thoughts of why Dr. Light named him that out of my head, but I can't. Even more, why did he start working on X while I was still around? Even more, who knows how long he was working on him before I even came in that first time! I appear to zone out as I ask myself these questions. However, X interrupts me.

"Are you okay...?" he questioned.

I said nothing, but I nodded to at least acknowledge him. Instead, I walk over to Sonic. He's still out, even though he's covered with two blankets. I can only hope he wakes up soon so we can figure out where the heck where we are, and why X is not wherever he belongs, let alone functional after Dr. Light's lab was invaded. I would think all of his stuff would have been trampled on, given how many Primids were in there.

Luckily, I don't have to wait long for Sonic to wake up. At that moment, his emerald green eyes open. X seems to be thinking about something else and doesn't notice.

"Sonic, are you alright?" I ask. Even though I'm still mad at him since his hair-brain idea was the reason we ended up here in the first place, as his friend, I always care about his well-being.

"I think so..." Sonic says softly. He looks around in a dazed manner. "Where are we?"

"I'm guessing we're stuck in between time and spatial dimensions." X answers.

"And how do you know?" I question.

"Well..." X sighed, closing his eyes and then opening them again. "Zero and I were on our way to a mission. Something went wrong with the teleportation we use and I ended up here, but Zero went missing. I'm guessing we're stuck in time and spacial dimensions since this place is so hazy. Plus...it just feels that way.

"That's exactly what happened to us!" Sonic says with a gasp, slowly sitting up. "We ended up here after a teleporter accident. We're missing someone as well."

"Then maybe there's a connection with our situations." X says. "But I wonder...who or what would do this? I sure hope Zero and your friend are safe. I know Zero says he can take care of himself but..."

He trails off. I look at Sonic when he taps me.

"Rock..." he says. "I think we ought to help him out. There's probably a connection here. I think if we help him find his friend, it also might lead us to Toon Link and maybe to a way home for all of us."

"We can't leave anyone in need." I state. "We'll help each other out here."

Sonic nodded. He decides to take it upon himself to tell X about our discussion.

"Hey...X, isn't it?' Sonic asks. "We can help you find your friend. There might be a connection with our situations."

"And it's not safe to be traveling alone in someplace you don't know." I speak up. "It's safer if we all grouped together. Plus, it can't hurt for us all to help each other out. We all have to get home, after all."

X nodded. "But are you guys even well enough to go right now? I mean, you both just woke up. I don't want anybody passing out."

"We'll be fine." Sonic says, grinning and giving a thumbs up. "Right, Rock?"

"Yep!" I say with a grin. I do, in fact, feel a lot better now that I've warmed up. If there's anyone I'm worried about right now, it's X himself. There's frost all over him! Part of me wonders how he can't be freezing cold right now, but another part of me just shoves it away. I don't know X that well, and if I brought anything up, I'm not sure how he might respond to me about it. Instead, I say nothing, but make a mental note to myself to watch him.

After a nod from X, the three of us set off on our search. Where this journey will take us? Who knows. Especially with Sonic along for the ride, with his adventurous, sometimes more often stupid than not ideas, and X, who I have no clue how will turn out to be. Well, I had been hoping for another adventure for a long time, so I guess it isn't all bad. We'll just have to see where it takes us.


	3. Smash Mansion: Discoveries

**Chapter Two: Smash Mansion: Discovery  
**

"Has anyone seen them?" a frantic R.O.B. hollers across the Smash Mansion's living room. "It's important!"

"Who are you looking for and what's so important that you need them right now?" I question in a rather annoyed tone as I sit on the couch in the Smash Mansion's lobby, reading a magazine. To be honest, I bet R.O.B. is freaking out about Sonic or Mega Man, or both of them. He always does, and just about every time he does, they were just in some intense Brawl and were back a few hours later. He's been like this ever since July. At this point, to me, it's honestly just getting very old (and annoying for that matter).

"Sonic and Mega Man." R.O.B. says.

_I knew it...why did I even bother asking? _I ask myself.

"R.O.B.," I say calmly, closing my eyes. "I'm sure that they're fine. They're probably in an intense Brawl and will be back in a little while."

"No, they're not!." R.O.B. nearly interrupts me standing (well more so sitting on his robotic wheels) in front of me. "They gave been gone all through breakfast and all through lunch! We have to find them. They could be in trouble and you're just sitting here not giving a darn about it..!."

R.O.B. proceeds to go on about how Sonic and Mega Man are in trouble. I sigh and tune him out, opening my magazine back up. However, the more that I try to tune him out, the louder he gets, per usual. R.O.B's been like that since day one. If you don't want to listen to what he's got to say, he'll get louder and louder until you listen to him, or at least acknowledge he said anything. Unfortunately for me and my short temper, it isn't long before I lose my patience.

"Fine!" I snap over R.O.B.'s frantic yelling, slamming my magazine down on the coffee table.. "We'll look for them, but I guarantee that once we get to the teleporters, they'll come out safe and sound! But if you want to waste time looking for them, fine - I'll do it to shut you up."

"I'm telling you, they're not fine!" R.O.B. goes on.

"Just shut up and let's go!" I snap as I begin the walk down the hallway. Upon arrival to the training room which is just two doors to the right of the lobby, I fling open the door. I walk down the mini hallway within the room and fling open the door to the teleporter rooms. It hits the door with a slam. "See -"

I stop in mid sentence.

The room is a wreck. Smoke has filled the room to the point that I can barely breathe. The smoke alarms are even going off, but through a closed door, nobody else in the Mansion was able to hear them. The teleporters are all burnt to a crisp, and I even see that the code keyboard is hanging by a mere three wires on the side of the main teleporter. Even more odd, I notice that there's someone new passed out on the ground. They look like someone from Mega Man's universe - someone who most certainly doesn't belong here, that's for sure. However, through the smoke, I can't see much of their features, but they do have a weapon. It's a saber of some sort, as I can see it glowing through the smoke.

"See, told you that it wasn't alright, Ms. I Know Everything About Nothing At The Top Of Her Lungs." R.O.B. states. If a robot could roll their eyes, he would. "Now are you going to listen to my concerns?"

I stare at the scene for awhile, awestruck. How? Why? The teleporters aren't supposed to malfunction like this! Something is wrong with them, but what? Master Hand, as far as I know (which isn't much since I've only been here a couple months) has made it top priority to make sure that the teleporters are maintained well so that they are always in safe, tip-top condition for people to use - with the exception of some new stages for Smash Bros 4 that he has disallowed because they aren't ready yet. But even if Sonic and Mega Man did try and go to a disallowed stage, all of this shouldn't be happening, should it?

I suddenly start to cough due to the smoke.

"We can't do anything for this mystery person until this smoke dissipates." I say after a few minutes as I quickly step out of the room, unable to take the smoke anymore. "For right now, the best thing to do would be to get Master Hand's opinion on what to do about this. It isn't normal for the teleporters to mess up like this and for some random person to end up here, so we need professional advice. By the time we get done with that, the smoke should be cleared, so we'll come back then to help mystery person."

"Fine, sounds fine." R.O.B. says. "I just hope that Sonic and Mega Man are okay."

I myself have become concerned for them now that I saw the condition of the teleporter room. There's no way that Sonic and Mega Man are not hurt. Just no way. And secretly, although I will never admit it aloud, I have untold and most likely forever untold feelings for Mega Man, and am hoping more than ever that he's alright and not dead. Those teleporters looked like they destroyed whatever was transported in it, and if not, they certainly badly damaged it. However, I don't say my concerns to R.O.B., as I know how much of a temper he can get and I don't think getting his temper on would be the best thing for him (or anybody else involved) right now. Instead, I start to walk off.

"You'd better move!" I shout behind me at R.O.B, who is still standing there. "You know I don't wait on anybody!"

**. . . . . **

"And that's why I deserve to be a Smasher." Shadow The Hedgehog snaps, glaring at Master Hand and crossing his arms. "If Faker is a Smash Bro, then I more than deserve it."

"We've discussed this numerous times already." Master Hand says in an annoyed tone, still facing his computer. He'd been paying little attention to Shadow's "mini rant" earlier about being a Smasher. He's heard so many of these rants from plenty of Assist Trophy people and PokeBall summons that he could just tune them out and be unaffected by them. "It's probably not happening. I want to keep the third parties to a minimum.

"My rear end!" Shadow nearly interrupts. "You made Faker return, and you added Mega Man! I don't call that keeping third party Smashers to a minimum!"

"Mega Man's world was destroyed, that's the main reason he's here." Master Hand says calmly, still "looking" at his computer. "That, and my mail was literally flooded with E-Mails from fans and a few from Mega Man himself bugging me about being in Smash Bros."

"So if I blow up your mailbox and E-Mail, I will become a Smasher?" Shadow questions.

"Don't try it." Master Hand starts.

"Oh, but I will if that means I'll be a Smasher." Shadow says with a smirk. "In fact, I'll get on that right away. If Mega Man can be a Smasher by blowing up your E-Mail, then so can I!"

Just then, the door opens.

**. . . .**

"Um, Master Hand." I say as calmly as I can, opening the door to his office. "We have a problem."

"Well, can't it wait?" Shadow questions angrily, crossing his arms. "We were kind of in the middle of an important discussion!"

R.O.B. rolls in at that moment. "No, it can't wait. It's about Sonic and Mega Man."

"What did they do this time?" Master Hand questions with a sigh. He's been this way about them ever since July. Which to be honest, I can understand. Even after July, they were still a little violent towards each other, and were still making frequent visits to Master Hand's office. Although they've calmed down significantly, Master Hand still views them both as troublemakers.

"They're both gone." I explain. "We thought that they'd gone on a Brawl, but when we went to the teleporter room, all we saw were scorched teleporters, a smoky room, and some mystery person who we're guessing to be from Mega Man's world laying there unconscious!"

"I specifically told them not to use any disallowed stages!" Master Hand shouts. He intended for only himself to hear, I can tell, but everyone in the room heard.

"Well, you know them." R.O.B. says. 'Well, you know Sonic. He probably came up with the idea and Mega Man, being the pacifist he is just went on with it without giving a hard enough argument. But still...they're in danger and we need to find them!

"Look, I could care less about this whole spiel right now." Shadow speaks up, standing up. "If you don't mind, could you two move so that I can get by?"

"Hold on a second, Shadow." Master Hand speaks up. "Sit back down a second. Wii Fit Trainer, R.O.B., sit down as well."

I pull out one of the many swivel chairs in the room and sit down in it. R.O.B. does the same, while Shadow plops back in his chair. We all sit in a rather awkward silence.

" While I know that Sonic and Mega Man often do many silly things, but I don't think that this one is purely because of that." Master Hand begins after a few minutes of silence. "Something has gone seriously wrong. Not just with the teleporters, either. They aren't supposed to act up like that...The only explanation I have for this happening is someone or something is messing around with time itself, which caused Sonic and Mega Man to be warped off to somewhere completely off the charts."

"So, are we going to see them agai-

Shadow interrupts me, standing up again. "I'd like to get out of here-"

"Silence!" booms Master Hand, interrupting Shadow. He goes silent and sits down again. "Now, regarding your question, Wii Fit Trainer. It's honestly uncertain. There's no guaranteeing where they even are right now, and whatever portals are nearby that they might try and hop into. They literally could be anywhere."

I pause for a second, taking this all in. I close my eyes, thinking of what it would be like to not see Mega Man again. It saddens me to even think about it, but now I realize that the possibility of that happening is quite real. However, I get myself together quickly and open my eyes again.

"Well, do you think those teleporters are still useable?" R.O.B. asks, looking at me. "If they are, maybe we'll end up where they were?"

"It's worth a shot." I say with a nod.

"I suggest that you round up some more people before you go." Master Hand urges us. "Less probability you'll get lost. Whatever this evil is, it must be stopped. Who knows what it is capable of doing, if it's already gotten into our teleportation systems."

"We will do everything in our power to fix this problem." R.O.B. says.

"And we will get Sonic and Mega Man back as well." I add. "I promise you that."

"Well, I bid you all good luck." Master Hand says. "I know you Smashers can take care of this."

R.O.B. and I both nod, and make our way out of the office. The smoke should be dissipated by now, so the first and foremost thing we should do is get the person out of the teleporter room. Hopefully when he's conscious, we might get a bit of info on what's going on, though I'm not entirely sure if we will or not. He's probably just as confused, if not more confused as all of us are.

We make our way back to the teleporter room, which is now smoke-free after me leaving the door opened for awhile. I stare at the new robot, who is still unconscious, but he is faintly mumbling. I can make out the name Iris in his mumbling, and that's about it.

_Who the heck is Iris? _I think to myself, wrinkling my nose. _Whoever they are, they must be of importance to him. _

Deciding that I ought to not invade into the robot's personal business, I dismiss my thoughts and lift him up into my arms. I take him to one of the guest rooms, while R.O.B. goes to the infirmary to get bandages.

When I arrive in the guest room I set the robot down on the bed and sit down on a nearby chair. Now that I have him layed down, I can see the full extent of the robot's injuries. He's only been hurt minorly, with a few dents and scratches here and there and some fluid leaking from his right leg, but it's nothing too serious. My guess is that he fainted due to the smoke, and he should probably come to after he gets some fresh air. I sigh as I hear him mumble that Iris name again. That gal must really be someone. Again, I dismiss it - If I went and asked the robot about her when he woke up something tells me he might flip out on me. I peek out the door to see if R.O.B.'s coming. Nope. No sign of him yet, and now the robot is screaming this Iris name, and yelling about how he loves said person and is sorry for something. It must've been something severe, since his eye lubrication is all over his face. I grab a nearby rag and wipe it away. As I do that, I am reminded of how I did this once for Mega Man when he broke down about the loss of his creator and sister. I sigh. I so hope Mega Man is alright.

Thankfully, after awhile, the robot's loud screaming goes silent. He appears to just be shaking with emotional pain. I sigh to myself and look at the door, noticing R.O.B. come in with the medical supplies. I move so he can put it on, standing by in case my help is needed.

After awhile. R.O.B. is finished, and turns to me.

"The best thing to do now is to get the others." he says. "We've done what we could here. Once we find the others, we'll check on him again."

I nod, and start for the door. As I do though, I take a last look at the emotionally troubled robot, hoping that whatever is going on in his mind is resolved soon.


	4. Is This Real?

**Chapter Three: Is This Real?**

"Hey, easy now!" Sonic shouts, walking over to X, who has fallen over for about the fifth time since we started walking through this cold, hazy world of nothingness. "If you need a break, it's perfectly fine. Nobody's gonna down you for it or anything."

"For the fifth time, I'm fine!" X snapped, quickly getting back up. "We don't really have the time for breaks. Our friends could be anywhere, and I'm not sitting -

"Well, you're not going to be of any use to anybody if you continue to push yourself." Sonic says calmly. "It's cold, it's raining -

"More like slushing." I speak up as drops of slush slide off of my armor. I wipe them away with my hand, shivering a bit and they slide onto the ground.

"Regardless of what it is, there's crap falling out of the sky!" Sonic continues to X, shooing my comment away with his hand. "Anyway, breaks are understandable, X, and right now, you need one."

"And I told you I am fine." X snaps, glaring at Sonic. "We don-

"Guys, please, not now!" I interrupt as I step in between them, trying to stop a fight before it starts. "Now's not the time to bicker, so save it for another time if you will! We have people to find!"

"And I suppose this is my fault as well, right, Rock?" Sonic snaps, crossing his arms.

X doesn't say anything back, but he nods in agreement to what I said walks ahead of us, giving us both an expression saying "I don't have time for this". I follow him, not in the mood for arguing.

Ever since we began on our walk, everyone has been a bit edgy, myself included. I swear that X is literally freezing to death but he continues to holler that there's no time for breaks because our friends are out there in some unknown location, Sonic is yelling for him to stop and warm up, and I'm just wanting us to proceed on our journey with as little drama as possible. Unfortunately for me, I doubt that drama is going to be kept to a minimum since both Sonic and X are stubborn in their standpoints about the topic of taking a break. Personally, I don't think there's time for a break either since we're stuck in the middle of time and space and need to get home as soon as possible. But Sonic is concerned that X won't make it if he continues to push himself. I would tell Sonic that based off of what I know about X from my brief moment talking to him while he was in his capsule in the rubble of Dr. Light's lab and looking at the writings on the capsule,, Dr. Light created him to be able to push himself for quite some time and that we shouldn't worry about him. But, I don't feel light dealing with arguing, like I said before.

The three of us continue on our journey with no words exchanged. X is still walking ahead of us, and Sonic is angry at me for yelling earlier. I don't like to be yelling, but there was just no other way to get them to shut up. If Sonic can't see that, and wants to be a butt hole about it, I guess oh well for him.

As I walk in silence, I can get a better idea of our setting here. It looks just like a normal field of grass. Raindrops have fallen in between each blade of grass, creating a glimmering effect. The sky is hazy, and I can see a forest off in the distance. It almost looks as if it were all unreal - like maybe Sonic and I were unconscious in the real world and this was where our spirits ended up. Some things look out of the ordinary however. There are a few trees whose branches have half faded away, the sky looks half faded away, and leaves fall from a few of the trees only to fade into nothingness just before they were to reach the ground. The rain/snow mix, however, doesn't seem to fade away, and comes down full force, dripping off of my armor and making me even more cold than I already am.

X ends up falling for a sixth time, but as before, got back up. I am starting to wonder what really is wrong with him. Sure it's extremely cold out here, but simple coldness alone couldn't be what's causing him to get so weak. Something else is bound to have happened - something that he's refusing to let on. However, I don't bother asking him what's wrong, since as I said before, I don't feel like arguing right now.

We soon approach the entrance to the forest. However, something seems strangely...off about it. The entrance doesn't look normal. Instead of the normal sight of a forest entrance, there is a swirling, green portal.

"Weird." Sonic says as he approaches the portal. "What's a portal doing here of all places?"

"Who knows." I say, looking at it with interest. I'm tempted to go through it and see where it leads, but another part of me isn't sure if I should.

"Well, what are we waiting for, let's go in and see where it leads!" Sonic says with a grin.

"Sonic..." I start. "We can't just hop into some random - "

"Nonsense!" Sonic interrupts me, grabbing my arm. "You know what I always say about taking risks. You only live once!"

"That's exactly the reason why -"

Too late. Sonic's jumped into the portal, sending us both in. Instantly, I black out yet again...

* * *

When I finally regain consciousness, the first thing that I see is a bright neon sign flashing the word "CASINO" in bright blue, cursive writing. I see cards all over the place and different colored balls that are used to play pool with floating through the haze from before is still present, and some of the balls appear to vanish in midair. It's also still incredibly , I push those aside. I still think that the haze and chills is something that's going on with me, since neither Sonic, nor X has complained at all about the haze. X is kneeled down beside me.

"You alright?" he asks me.

"I think so." I respond. "But where's Sonic?"

I look behind me and spot Sonic standing, looking at the sky in disbelief. I quickly stand up and go over to him, wondering what's wrong.

"Sonic?" I start cautiously. X follows behind me, although he's still looking noticeably weak. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Sonic says quickly. "It's just that... I know this place, and the Casino Park is not supposed to be looking like this. I mean look! The sky's all hazy...the balls are fading in midair, the posters are all faded..."

"Maybe some kind of evil force is at work that's causing this." X speaks up, coming out from behind me.

"No...It's not that." Sonic says, looking up at the sky.

"Then what is it then?" I question.

Sonic continues looking at the sky. Whatever he's thinking, it's obvious that he doesn't want to tell us about it. He thinks that it might worry us too much. I know that's how he's feeling - The only time he doesn't speak right away upon being asked a question is when he knows the answer will worry people. I keep quiet. I don't like pressing on questions like these. However, X decides to do so anyway.

"Sonic?" he asked.

Sonic sighs, looking up at us.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to worry you guys." he says after a bit. "But..." he pauses a bit, trying to figure out how he should put what he's about to say. "...I know this probably sounds weird, but I think this world's a fake."


End file.
